The sustainability commission of Victoria College’s student council is criticizing the college’s administration for what they view as a lack of action on environmental sustainability. Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council’s (VUSAC) sustainability commission sent a letter on February 28 to Victoria College’s President, William Robins. “Not only is sustainability not a priority within the administration, but it would appear to barely even be given consideration,” reads the letter.

The letter was in response to Robins’ presidential priorities document, which was sent to VUSAC to ask for their feedback, according to VUSAC Sustainability Commissioner Jared Connoy.

The commission writes in the letter that there is a “complete absence of sustainability in [Robins’] presidential priorities document,” which they described as “incredibly disappointing.”

“As it is now within the administration, there’s not a single initiative or person that takes care of sustainability,” said Connoy. “Every single environmental initiative has fallen upon the shoulders of students, which in my opinion isn’t right and shouldn’t [have] been that way, especially considering that [Vic’s] student body is very environmentally conscious.”

In response to the criticism, Robins sent a letter to the Commission on March 16, stating that the presidential priorities document “intentionally focuses on the academic mission of Victoria University.”

“As the document acknowledges, there are many areas of our operations which this document does not directly address that nevertheless remain important priorities for the university,” wrote Robins. “Thus, while issues such as environmental sustainability… are not directly encompassed in the document, that does not mean that they are not priorities for Victoria University. I assure you that they are.”

In regards to VUSAC’s criticism that Victoria does not have anyone dedicated to the sustainability portfolio, Robins wrote that, “Importantly, the hiring of Mr. Vikas Mehta as Vic’s new Director of Physical Plant is a strategic decision to bring to Vic a professional with extensive experience working with students, faculty and staff on sustainability, zero carbon, and greening initiatives.”

Robins also cites a number of the college’s sustainability initiatives, including installing new technology to reduce energy and water use, as well as new drinking fountains “to assist in waste diversion, reducing plastic bottle waste.” The latter began as a joint initiative with student groups.

In an email statement to The Varsity, Connoy said that while Robins’ response does address some of his concerns, “sustainability is still not a responsibility of anyone in the administration. There is no mention of improving Vic’s sustainability being a part of [Mehta’s] job requirement.”

“Furthermore, all of the sustainability initiatives are of benefit to [Vic] (in terms of saving money on lost water, heat, electricity, etc.), and not particularly indicative of environmental concern,” wrote Connoy. He also added that there was no mention of composting at Victoria in Robins’ letter.

“Student-led initiatives are great, but given the structure of the college, it’s just not feasible to just have students running all of the environmental initiatives,” said Connoy. “I think it’s really important that sustainability becomes a responsibility of someone in the administration and not just perhaps a consideration of the administration.”

Robins responded to The Varsity’s request for comment by citing his letter to VUSAC’s Sustainability Commission.

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